Books published by publisher Arte Publico Press

Tomás Rivera's original Spanish-language novel plus a new translation into English by Evangelina Vigil-Piñón. ...y no se lo tragó la tierra won the first national award for Chicano literature in 1970 and has become the standard literary text for Hispanic literature classes throughout the country. It is now an award-winning, motion picture entitled And the Earth Did Not Swaloow Him.

Have you ever been too scared to sleep with the lights off? Were you frightened by a scratching sound inside of your walls or the beady red eyes and knotted green fingers of a duende? In his first collection of scary stories, Xavier Garza asks these questions. The stories in this collection curdle with the creepy and crawling characters of traditional folklore. These stories brim with the supernatural: the mysterious disappearance of children who made deals with duendes, evil trolls who live inside the walls of our houses; the ghostly specter of La Llorona who floats along the creek bed, howling, !Ay, mis hijos!; witches that turn into great white owls; a severed hand that hurtles across floors and catches a death grip; and even the Devil himself harvesting wayward souls. These are all cucuys, supernatural beings who have come to haunt the imagination in these tales of wonder and warning. These delicious and frightful stories come down through generations of grandmas teaching children to respect the laws of nature and the All Powerful. These particular spooky cucuys are recounted and illustrated by master storyteller Xavier Garza, just the way he heard them at the knees of other masters when he was growing up in South Texas. Garza has preserved just the right gory detail and startling surprise to frighten the socks off you. And he always insists that you learn your lesson and take heed, or else...

Born in 1944, Jose Angel Gutierrez grew up in a time when Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas and the Southwest attended separate schools and avoided public facilities and restaurants that were designated Whites Only. Despite the limits of segregation and rural culture in Texas, the passion to learn and to educate others, as well as to undo injustice, burned in his belly from an early age. Gutierrez offers portraits of his early influences, from his father's own pursuit of knowledge and political involvement, to his Mexican pre-school teacher's interest in bilingual-bicultural education which did not exist in public schools at that time, and to his mother's courage and persistence, taking up migrant field work to provide for her family after the death of young Gutierrez's father. In this intensely narrated memoir, Gutierrez details his rise from being beaten down by racist political and agricultural interests in South Texas to his leadership role in the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Complemented by photos from his personal archives, Gutierrez recalls his struggle for education, his early baptism in grass-roots political organizing, and his success in creating one of history's most successful third party movements, La Raza Unida Party. Along the way, Gutierrez earned college and law degrees, as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science. He was elected or appointed to school boards, commissions, judgeships and party chairmanships, all with the single-minded purpose of extending equality to Mexican Americans and other minorities in the United States. Through his tireless efforts, he crossed paths with African American and Native American civil rights leaders, Mexican presidents, and other international figures.

Finalist, Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award; Finalist, Texas Institute of Letters 2001 Friends of the Austin Public Library Young Adult Book Award; Named to The New York Public Library's 2002 Books For The Teen Age: Finalist, ForeWord Magazine's "Book of the Year" Young Adult category; and Finalist, Writer's League of Texas' Teddy Children's Book Award.

Young René’s mother has sent him a new pair of shoes from the United States. He loves his new shoes. “They walk everywhere I walk. They jump every time I jump. They run as fast as me. We always cross the finish line at the same time.” René—with his new shoes—and his father set off on the long journey to meet his mother in the United States. He says goodbye to his friends in El Salvador, and “Uno, dos, tres, my shoes and I are ready to go.” The trip is difficult. They take buses and walk across El Salvador, into Guatemala and then into Mexico. His brand-new shoes lose their shine, turning dirty and gray. They become elephants, pushing against the wind; race cars, fleeing hungry dogs; swim shoes, escaping floods; and submarines, navigating through sticky mud. When holes appear on the soles of his shoes, his father won’t let him give up. “René, my strong boy, we want to be with Mamá.” Sharing his own experiences, René Colato Laínez’s moving bilingual picture book brings to life the experiences of many young children who make the arduous journey from Central America to the United States in search of a better life.

Fiction. Anne Estevis was raised and educated in Corpus Christi, Texas and now teaches elementary through graduate school in New Mexico and Texas. In this tender debut novel, a medley of young voices bring to life a small Mexican-American community in South Texas during the 1940's and 1950's. In this untouched world, young men depart for World War II, whispers of El Chupasangre (the blood sucker) crawl across the countryside, a brother sacrifices the little money he has for a pastel dress for his sister, and one young girl makes a painful mistake when she disobeys her parents for a tryst with her boyfriend. Anne Estevis brings to life a generation of voices of young people on the brink of change and conflict, and the coming of age of a traditional community in the modern world.

From missing girls to kidnappings and dismembered bodies, the teens in this collection deal with every kind of mystery imaginable. A young girl finds herself living with her “family,” though she has no memory of them or who they claim she is. A geek at a prestigious public high school finds himself working with his very attractive arch-rival to solve the mystery of a severed, bloody arm that appears inexplicably in his locker. And Mike’s life sucks when his parents split up, but it gets worse when his best friend is abducted by a thug shot by Mike’s dad, a police officer.The teens in these stories deal with situations typical to all young adults, including attractions and first sexual encounters, problems with family and friends, aspirations for academic and personal excellence. Set in schools and communities from New York City to Venice Beach, California, there’s something here for everyone. With aliens, ghosts and even an Aztec goddess making appearances, these suspenseful stories by Latino writers will keep you hooked until the last page is turned.

“I tell you, God could care less about the poor. Tell me, why must we live here like this? What have we done to deserve this? You’re so good and yet you suffer so much,” a young boy tells his mother in Tomás Rivera’s classic novel about the migrant worker experience. Outside the chicken coop that is their home, his father wails in pain from the unbearable cramps brought on by sunstroke after working in the hot fields. The young boy can’t understand his parents’ faith in a god that would impose such horrible suffering, poverty and injustice on innocent people. Adapted into the award-winning film …and the earth did not swallow him and recipient of the first award for Chicano literature, the Premio Quinto Sol, in 1970, Rivera’s masterpiece recounts the experiences of a Mexican-American community through the eyes of a young boy. Forced to leave their home in search of work, the migrants are exploited by farmers, shopkeepers, even other Mexican Americans, and the boy must forge his identity in the face of exploitation, death and disease, constant moving and conflicts with school officials. In this new edition of a powerful novel comprised of short vignettes, Rivera writes hauntingly about alienation, love and betrayal, man and nature, death and resurrection and the search for community.

In this spunky collection of stories, popular young adult and children's author Diane Gonzales Bertrand creates a raucous collection of rowdy fun in a bilingual format for intermediate readers. Ten-year-olds Miguel and Angel get so excited about the family's new truck that they take it for a spin. Luis rebels when his antiquated Tia Anita wants him to give his friend Diana a hairy pink thing and a box of powder that smells like cat litter. Norma dresses up like Queen Isabella and steals the spotlight from the class clowns. Alonso's day sours when he lies to claim a blue-ribbon prize in the science fair. These short stories bubble with fresh and feisty young characters, and their adventures carry all the struggles of childhood. With line-drawings by Pauline Rodriguez Howard, this funny, uplifting collection celebrates strong relationships with friends, parents, teachers, or extended family. Set in the schoolyard, at the beach, or on a driveway in front of the family's house, these stories make even the ordinary problems of childhood extraordinary.